Chilling story of obsession and madness. As a young boy, Luzhin was unattractive, distracted, withdrawn, sullen; an enigma to his parents, and an object of ridicule to his classmates. He takes up chess as a refuge from the anxiety of his everyday life. His talent is prodigious and he rises to the rank of grandmaster, but at a cost; in Luzhin's obsessive mind, the game of chess gradually supplants the world of reality.